New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton spent a lot of his time shooting down speculation during his hour-long sit-down with the media Wednesday at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix.

He rejected the notion that the Saints would consider trading quarterback Drew Brees, while spending a lot time critiquing the new wave of "speculative reporting."

And when asked if the Saints' decision to trade Jimmy Graham stemmed from discontent over Graham's high-profile franchise-tag dispute last summer, Payton said, "No, no, that really had nothing to do with it. Zero."

Payton also said he felt reports were overblown that the Saints were willing to trade just about everyone on the roster this offseason -- though he did acknowledge the amount of trades the Saints made was abnormal this year, especially one that involved a player of Graham's caliber.

Payton said the Saints really had just four or five discussions with teams about players such as Graham, receiver Kenny Stills and guard Ben Grubbs (all of whom were traded) and guard Jahri Evans (who wasn't dealt). He mentioned the Buffalo Bills as one team they had limited discussion with, even though no deal was made with Buffalo.

Payton said the motivation behind the Graham and Stills trades was to use assets in an area of strength to address more pressing needs on defense and the offensive line. The Grubbs trade was more financially motivated since the Saints felt they couldn't afford to invest so much in both Evans and Grubbs at the guard spot.

"I think when the season's over with, Mickey [Loomis] and I sat down and looked closely at, 'All right, here's some musts that we've gotta accomplish between now and when the draft ends.' And you've gotta look at every way that you can possibly fill those musts," Payton said. "There aren't a lot of players that get traded. So I think going into the process, skeptical's not the word, I just would have been, 'Are we gonna be able to get value, where we consider equal value for a certain player?'

"With regards to Jimmy, [we received] a pick that's later in the first round and a player that we identified (center Max Unger), so it's kind of two checks there. You're getting an interior lineman, which is one of these musts that we're discussing. You're also getting a first-round pick that you can hopefully help put towards one of your other needs or musts. Obviously we've gotta get better on defense. So there's a give and take there, and obviously there's that challenge in parting with a real good football player like Jimmy."

The Saints have beefed up their interior offensive line with Unger and invested heavily in running backs Mark Ingram and C.J. Spiller this offseason. Payton said it's not part of a specific plan to change the offensive philosophy. But Payton and Loomis have both stressed that the Saints have been confident in their consistent ability to generate a top offense, even while many of the playmakers have changed around Brees.

"I know for certain this wasn't about going in a different direction philosophically," Payton said. "This was, 'Hey, I think we will move the football in 2015, but let's find a way that we don't have to score 35 points to win the game.'"